The number of serious assaults recorded by Police increased by 31.3% during 2025-26, rising from 64 to 84 offences, but the force has urged caution in interpreting the figures.
Chief Constable Russ Foster said the increase is largely attributable to higher volumes of Actual Bodily Harm offences, with common assault falling significantly.
He said: “A review of the ABH offences recorded during the year did not identify any unusual trends, with circumstances remaining consistent with the established pattern of offending.”
Lower
Despite the rise, the Chief Constable noted harm levels remain “significantly lower than the most recently reported figure for England and Wales, which stood at 4.9 in 2024-25”.
The force recorded 27 serious assaults with a domestic element, representing 33.3% of all serious assaults.
Mr Foster said: “When considering victim and offender demographics within the island, the data provides detail that this year, 68.3% of victims of serious assault were male, whilst 31.7% of victims of serious assault were female.”
Meanwhile, 75.8% of suspects were male, while 24.2% were female.
Sexual Offences
Sexual offences including rape saw a notable reduction, with reports falling from 126 to 103, a decrease of 18.3%.
However, the detection rate for rape has reduced dramatically from 28.9% last year to 7.7% this year.
The Chief Constable addressed this directly, saying: “On the face of it, this deterioration appears stark, but the report provides a cogent explanation which I hope will assist with understanding this complex area.”
Of the 13 concluded rape investigations in the year, 12 did not progress to criminal proceedings. In five cases, the complainant did not support the investigation.
The remaining six investigations were progressed by specialist officers, but comprehensive advice files submitted to the Attorney General’s Chambers resulted in decisions not to pursue prosecution as the evidential threshold was not met.